sweet summer

 I've totally neglected this blog it seems.  But here are my reasons:  1. My camera was totally on the fritz a lot of the summer. Not that I take awesome pictures, but it's fun to share something...anything with a visual. 2. I've been busier since school got out, babysitting my sister's kids, working at the gym, gardening and of course taking some vacations with the family, which let's be honest.... is a lot of work, but fun too. 3. I'm slowly moving away from my night-owl ways and getting up with the sun. I blog at night.  So I need to find a new system to share my Monley moments with y'all and with my future self.

Here's an ultra-blog-entry to sum up the summer of 2012. It all started with a preschool graduation....

I love these kids

Then came that kindergarten graduation....

Then Nate started a new job! He is no longer the principal. But he does still work for the same charter school organization. Now he's the Director of the teacher residency program and a teaching coach for schools in the valley. Even though he travels a bit, we see him much much more often! He can work from home once in a while too! It's a great fit for him, and our family. :-)

With his new job came a busy summer where normally there is much more of a break for Nate, so in true Monley fashion, we crammed as much on the weekends as we could.

Kind of a wonky family photo in Shingle Springs

Smores tutorial

Catchin up with some kid friends

And adult friends

Also this summer two friends and I shared a 80's birthday bash.  Costumes were awesome. Nate didn't have to look far to find this gem.

 

Girls just wanna have fun!

 Backyard summer fun!

This is our volunteer garden. We have a ton of pumpkins and butternut squash this year, just from our compost!

Trying something new

strawberries!

The first of the harvest

It was love at first bite.

rainbow laundry!

Selah enjoying the new lawn!

Playing catch with Dad.

And then.....vacation to Monterey!

We had this weird ear phones with a mic attached. It makes Selah look like a telemarketer.

Calamari?

sure!

And then the annual cabin trip with the old Santa Barbara gang.